AI-driven CRM focused platform Yalochat has raised $8 million in its Series A funding round led by Sierra Ventures.

Sierra Ventures is a San Francisco based private venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley which specialises in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) market.

With the fresh funding round, Yalochat is all set to expand in India with talent hiring and setting up operations.

Globally, Yalochat has a presence in San Francisco, Mexico City, São Paulo, Bogotá, and Shanghai. In India, it has an office in Mumbai and aims to expand further to other cities over the course of 2019.

The company has already secured several high profile customers, including PepsiCo, Walmart, and Amazon along with established corporate houses and in India and Latin America.

Yalochat essentially enables B2C communication through popular chat platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat.

The company got significant recognition when WhatsApp announced that it will be offering its WhatsApp Enterprise Solution via third-parties. Yalochat became the first such company to allow B2B communication easily on top of WhatsApp.

Yalochat has a number of customers making use of its services, such as Kerala Government, RBL Bank, Edelweiss Tokio, and PayU.

Apart from key hiring at operational level across locations, Yalochat has roped in ex-PayPal Director of Engineering, Kyle Passarelli as CTO of the company, revealed the company’s press statement.

The company competes with Zendesk, Twilio, Gupshup, and Nexmo.

Of late, Mumbai-based Karix Mobile also announced that it has partnered with WhatsApp to offer WhatsApp for Business to its customers.